[ETL]

>Only a few thousand years ago?
>That must be the shallow end of deep space.
>Relatively speaking (npi),
>isn’t that like in the back yard?

The planets and their star are only about a hundred light-years away, not a few thousand. A ‘few thousand’ is the AGE of the event (in years).

“Infrared detectors on Spitzer found the traces of rocky rubble and re-frozen lava around a young star, called HD 172555, still in the early stages of planet formation. The system is about 100 light-years from Earth. One light-year is the distance light travels in a year (about six trillion miles).

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,538815,00.html?test=latestnews

[NonValueAdded]

Yes, that is understood. The point is 100 light years is relatively close in distance and a few thousand years is relatively close in time. Most of the time we hear measures about space discoveries in terms of millions or <sagan> billions </sagan> of years, whether light or standard.